Tag: North Korea

In the totally unsurprising news of the day, North Korea has nursery schools that promote the use of rifles, RPGs and hand grenades to its toddlers:

We foreign journalists were supposed to be marveling at the model farm on the outskirts of the North Korean capital – a 1,200-worker-strong vegetable commune with lots of amenities for the fieldhands, including homes equipped with solar power panels and solar water heaters. And I did manage an odd appreciation for the huge mosaic in the parking lot, depicting North Korean founding father Kil Il Sung gazing beatifically across a field of cabbages.

But when our government minders brought us reporters into the Changchon farm community’s nursery school, my brain got a little fixated on the wall art: Just past a painting of children skipping hand-in-hand beneath large letters saying “We Are Happy!” were some fratricidal forest friends.

First to catch my eye was a duck firing a machine gun at a wolf. Then I noticed the squirrel with hand grenades taking out a cowering weasel, with backup provided by a hedgehog with a RPG launcher.  I suppose in a country that has long followed a policy of songun, or “military first,” the powers-that-be figure it’s never too early to let the youngsters know what’s what.  [LA Times]

Here is what the kids are watching, this sounds better than Pororo!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuXJBJWR36Y

“Squirrel and Hedgehog,” my guides informed me, is as familiar to and beloved by North Korean kids as any Disney toon is to Yankee tots. Produced by state-run SEK Studios, the long-running animated TV show centers on the inhabitants of a make-believe place called Flower Hill, which is populated by squirrels, hedgehogs, and ducks.

The squirrels are the leaders, while the hedgehogs are the soldiers. Ducks are, duh, the navy. As you might guess, this squadron represents North Korea. The Flower Hill gang must contend with evil weasels (Japan) and wolves (the United States), while occasionally dealing with friendly but drunk bears (Russia).

“It’s a classic,” my guide, Ms. Hwang, informed me. “Everyone knows Squirrel and Hedgehog.”

You can read the rest at the link.

Kim Jong-un’s big political convention in North Korea has begun, hopefully for the attendees no one gets dragged off and executed before it is over:

North Korea kicked off its rare party congress at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang, the first in 36 years, according to foreign media reports. The North’s state media has yet to publish any reports on the gathering.

The event is the first party congress since October 1980 and also the first under the current leader, who assumed power in late 2011 following the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong-il.

“North Korea appears to seek to establish the socialist party-centered system and further consolidate the Kim Jong-un regime through the party congress,” Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman at Seoul’s unification ministry, said at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.

The party congress, which may last for three to four days, starts with an opening speech by the North’s young leader, which will serve as a gauge for his policy directions. North Korea’s state media has not yet made public its leader’s keynote address.

Later in the day, the WPK’s central committee will hold a session to review accomplishments and discuss future plans. On the final day of the event, it is expected to elect new members to the party central committee. [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link, but really the only thing of interest I expect to see come out of this is if Kim Yo-jong is promoted to a higher position within the Kim regime.

Sun Mu was a propaganda artist before escaping. Today, he uses his work as a voice for the North Korean people. pic.twitter.com/iMKnnKlc1f

— Liberty in North Korea (@LibertyinNK) May 4, 2016

The rumor mill is circulating that Kim Jong-un is going to use his big political convention this week to promote his younger sister Kim Yo-jong to a higher level within the government.  It makes sense for him considering she is trusted family and is female, thus no threat to replace him in male dominated North Korea:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may promote his youngest sister to a ministerial-level post as he moves to consolidate power during the ruling party congress that begins Friday, experts say.

The 7th Workers’ Party Congress — the first in 36 years — is expected to last three days, It comes against the backdrop of rising international tensions after the North staged its fourth nuclear test in early January, followed by a long-range rocket launch and other attempted missile tests despite harsh new U.N. sanctions.

Kim has given little hint of what he plans for the congress. But the 33-year-old leader is expected to use the chance to put his stamp on power and extinguish doubts about his lack of experience and military credentials after inheriting power from his father, who died of a heart attack in late 2011.

North Korea watchers say one possibiluty would be promoting his youngest sister, Kim Yo Jong, who is one of his closest confidantes.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

This drug bust sure isn’t going to help the already poor image that many South Koreans hold of North Korean defectors living in South Korea.  Of interest is that apparently much of the meth was used by other North Korean defectors which is an indication of the large drug problem in North Korea that has been reported on before.  Just think after unification South Korea will have to deal with an entire country that could be hooked on drugs:

A group of more than 20 North Korean defectors and ethnic Korean-Chinese people have been indicted here on charges of smuggling methamphetamine believed to be produced in the North into South Korea for sale or personal consumption, South Korean prosecutors said on Sunday, noting they have found circumstantial evidence of North Korean residents’ involvement in the crime.

 

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it has indicted a total of 23 suspects, including North Korean defectors living here and ethnic Koreans in China, with or without detention for smuggling the illegal drug into South Korea and seized about 810.7 grams of meth, or 27,000 doses. Meth, which can trigger side effects such as paranoia, hallucinations, delirium and delusions, is banned in South Korea.

 

All told, 16 North Korean defectors were referred to trial.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

North Korea holding completion ceremonies for unfinished buildings prior to 7th Workers Party Congress https://t.co/aQAFX0lby2

— NorthKoreaRealTime (@BuckTurgidson79) May 3, 2016

The US soldiers stationed at the Joint Security Area on the DMZ are specifically trained to be very professional when interacting with the North Koreans that is why I have a hard time believing the North Koreans.  Considering all the video cameras at the JSA you would think the North Koreans would have released video footage of their claimed infractions:

The American-led U.N. command on Saturday dismissed as unsubstantiated accusations from North Korea that U.S. troops at a border village tried to provoke its frontline troops with “disgusting acts.”

 

A North Korean military statement Friday warned U.S. soldiers to stop what it called “hooliganism” at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom or they’ll meet a “dog’s death any time and any place.”

 

It said U.S. troops pointed their fingers at North Korean soldiers and made strange noises and unspecified “disgusting” facial expressions. It also said that American troops encouraged South Korean soldiers to aim their guns at the North.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

Our 1st panel "Whither North Korea" of @joongangilbo–@csis now, watch here https://t.co/eCI0Cd9Wk2 #CSISLive pic.twitter.com/rBTviFwWb8

— CSIS Korea Chair (@CSISKoreaChair) May 3, 2016

I would not be surprised if this was North Korean payback for restaurant defections that happened last month.  If this was a murder by the North Koreans I wonder what the Chinese reaction will be to Kim regime agents murdering Chinese citizens?:

An ethnic Korean clergyman with Chinese nationality has been found dead in a northeastern Chinese town close to the border with North Korea, a North Korea watcher said on Sunday, raising suspicions that the North could possibly be involved in his death.

The body of the priest, identified by his surname Han and known for his activities in support of North Korean defectors, was found Saturday afternoon, the watcher said, speculating that he may have been murdered.

Chinese police have immediately launched a probe into Han’s death.

Han is known for serving at Changbai Church in Changbai County, Jilin Province, a region that is populated by the Chaoxian people, or ethnic Koreans living in China.

“Han had been active in supporting North Korean defectors,” the watcher said. “Murder seems the most likely cause of his death.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

When dealing with the Middle East actions speak louder than words and so far there has been no action on Iran’s part to support their recent rhetoric:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested Monday that his country is opposed to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, a move that underscores growing pressure on the communist country.

“We cheer for peace on the Korean Peninsula and we are, in principle, opposed to any nuclear development,” Rouhani said through a translator in a joint news conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye after their summit in Tehran.

“Our basic position is that nuclear weapons should be removed from the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East.”

Rouhani’s comments are the latest act of international pressure being exerted on North Korea to give up its nuclear program and end its provocations.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.